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ASU Men’s Tennis: BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge Recap

By Carson Roberts

TEMPE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs on the field during the first half of the college football game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs on the field during the first half of the college football game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
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ASU men’s tennis recovered from their two-game slump with a second-place finish at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge over the weekend.

Arizona State (10-6) built off of close results with tennis powerhouses Stanford and Ohio State to defeat SMU (7-11) and Tulsa (10-12). They could not, however, overcome Cal (8-4).

Matt Hill’s team began the tournament as the No. 1 seed, earning them a first round matchup with SMU.

The Mustangs struck first by winning two of the three doubles matches and earning the doubles point.

Charles Nettlefold and Roberto Rosales of SMU battled for their 6-4 victory over Pierre Louis Dodens and Thomas Wright on Court 3.

Following their teammates’ defeat, Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla cruised to a 6-1 win over Eladio Fabregas and Gardiner Perotti.

Eventually, Jan-Simon Vrbsky and Tomas Vaise beat Tim Ruehl and Michael Geerts, giving the doubles point to the Mustangs.

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Not to be deterred, the Sun Devils stormed back in singles play.

Bolla, Geerts, Wright and Ruehl all beat their opponents handily to help ASU win 4-2 and advance.

Next up for the Sun Devils was a match with the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. Not wanting to fall behind yet again, ASU fought hard for the doubles point.

After Wright and Will Kirkman defeated Boriss Kamdem and Joshua Goodger 6-4 on Court 3, the Sun Devils needed a win on either of the two remaining courts.

Geerts and Ruehl stepped up, earning a 6-3 win over Majed Kilani and Lucca Baptista to secure the doubles point.

Bolla and Rakotomalala did not finish their match with Louis Corker and Mitchell Pritchard.

Yet again, the Sun Devils came out firing on all cylinders for the singles matches.

Only needing three wins in singles, ASU won the match with two courts left incomplete.

Wright beat Corker 6-1, 6-3 to begin singles play and extend the Sun Devils’ lead.

Following Rakotomalala’s 6-4, 6-3 loss to Goodger, Geerts and Bolla downed Kilani and Pritchard, respectively, to seal the 4-1 victory.

With a second tournament title within grasp, ASU faced off against the Cal Golden Bears in the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge Final.

The first scheduled meeting between the two Pac-12 teams was set for March 10. However, rain forced the schools to cut the match short.

In the first meeting, the two teams played evenly in the incomplete singles matches. However, ASU held the edge because they won the doubles point.

The two teams played just as close in Indian Wells, as they swapped 6-1 wins in doubles to begin the day.

The doubles point came down to a rematch between ASU’s Geerts and Ruehl and Cal’s Billy Griffith and J.T. Nishimura.

Although the Sun Devils’ duo won in the previous meeting, Griffith and Nishimura proved why they are among the nation’s best in a gritty 7-6 victory.

The singles matches proved to be just as competitive.

The Sun Devils battled with the Golden Bears, pulling ahead 3-2 after Bolla’s 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Paul Barretto.

However, Cal countered with Ben Draper’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win over Kirkman to tie the match at 3-3.

Jack Molloy downed Ruehl in consecutive 6-4 sets to capture the fourth and final point for the Golden Bears.

Next: ASU Men’s Tennis: Sun Devils fall short against Stanford

With another weekend in the books, the Sun Devils return home to rest and prepare for a matchup with New Mexico on March 24.